US Largest Oil Refinery Partially Closed after Yet Another Fire

Ever since undergoing a $10 billion expansion, the Motiva oil refinery in Port Arthur, Texas, has experienced a long line of incidents, the latest being a fire which has forced it to reduce production output by a half, for at least two weeks.

Only one week ago the 600,000 barrel a day facility, owned by Royal Dutch Shell and Saudi Aramco, suffered from a different fire, which caught in the sulphur recovery unit, forcing a closure and reducing production. The sulphur unit will undergo repairs, and is expected to go back into operation in two or three weeks.

A source with knowledge of the incident told Reuters that the fire damaged communication lines and instrumentation needed to run the 75,000 bpd hydrocracker, but its production sections were unharmed. Whilst the hydrocracker unit is being repaired the 325,000 barrel a day VPS-5 will be on warm circulation (standby).

Kimberly Windon, a spokesperson for Shell, explained that “several units that are integrated to this will run at reduced rates and others are being shut down,” whilst the repairs take place.

Refinery managers admitted that “it was a bad weekend for us. We're all feeling snake-bit. It just seems like we get up and going and then something else goes wrong.”

Even once the hydrocracker is ready to start-up again, the VPS-5 will be kept operating at 75,000 barrels a day below its capacity, due to a vibration affecting a key pipe. Near the end of 2014 it may then be fully shutdown in order to address the problem.

The vibration appeared when the CDU was restarted early in the year after it was shut-down for seven and a half months to repair the damage caused by a chemical leak that occurred just weeks after the initial opening of the refinery, following the five year expansion.

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thomas randle on October 14 2013 said:

bid on surplus industrial valves

David Hrivnak on August 25 2013 said:

That is wly I now drive an electric vehicle. Gasoline prices no longer matter to me. With my EV i can drive 200 miles on $4. Try that on a moped.

Mike Shryock on August 22 2013 said:

Sounds like someone needs to get their head out of their posterior. But then that won't happen. They need to hike the prices of gas more so, like boiling a frog, the slow process of raising the prices will continue until only the billionaires can afford to drive. Then what will the thieving oil companies do for money.